SB/SE WEB SERVICES

D - Information Technology Services Description This is a SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE, for market research purposes only, to determine the availability of potential firms under the 8(a) Business Development Program with capabilities to provide website and related product support services under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 518210 for Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services. Interested parties are invited to provide responses via e-mail to Tanya Conner at Tanya.M.Conner@irs.gov. Responses will be used to determine the availability of capable firms under the 8(a) business development program for a potential future procurement. Services are as described below. Responses will be accepted from firms currently classified as 8(a) concerns only. Purpose The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Communications organization is seeking industry capability statements for contractor support, either alone or with appropriate teaming partners, to maintain and enhance the SB/SE portion of the public IRS.gov website and IRS Intranet web sites. This also includes development and marketing of products, in addition to all web related products and services. The IRS is conducting market research and analysis of industry capabilities for a contract designed to replace the current web services contract originally awarded under the 8(a) Business Development program, expiring January 31, 2012. The requirement is expected to be awarded as an 8(a) sole source contract. General THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFOMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes. It does not constitute a Request for Proposals (RFP). Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative cost incurred in response to this RFI. All cost associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the responding party's expense. All information received in response to this RFI that is marked PROPRIETARY will be handled accordingly. The Government shall not be liable for or suffer any consequential damages for any proprietary information not properly identified. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable government regulations. Responses to this RFI will not be returned. 8(a) concerns are encouraged to provide response to this RFI in order to assist the IRS in determining availability of 8(a) firms in the industry, with the skill set necessary for the potential requirement. In accordance with FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the U.S. Government to form a binding contract. After analysis of the responses to this RFI, the government will make award in accordance with FAR part 19.8, contracting with the Small Business Administration 8(a) Business Development Program. Background The mission of the IRS SB/SE Communications Organization is to provide SB/SE customers top-quality service by educating and informing them of their tax obligations, developing educational products and services, and helping them understand and comply with applicable laws. The primary tool that SB/SE uses for communication and education is the public IRS.gov website. The SB/SE employees use the information and resources on the SB/SE intranet sites in order to perform their duties as they relate to education and compliance activities. SB/SE currently uses contractor support for maintenance, development, design, and implementation activities for the SB/SE content on the public IRS.gov website, on the IRS intranet sites, and in SB/SE educational products. Description of Work Potential 8(a) sources must demonstrate expertise and capability to maintain and enhance the SB/SE portion of the public IRS.gov website and IRS Intranet web sites. This also includes development and marketing of products, in addition to all web related products and services. The software development work for this task must be performed by an organizational component using software development processes that are consistent with the activities described by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Capability Maturity Model (CMM) that satisfy, at a minimum, CMMI Level 2 Capability for software development. The contractor shall be responsible for content maintenance, development, design, and implementation activities for the SB/SE web content on the IRS.gov public web site, the IRS intranet sites, and SB/SE products. Content maintenance activities shall involve posting, deleting, and organizing web page information. The contractor shall also be responsible for maintaining, enhancing and creating the graphical user interface, to ensure proper functionality. The contractor shall be required to make changes to the existing web menu, to accommodate additions, deletions and changes. The contractor shall be responsible for creating new web menus and navigation to enhance functionality of the site or product. Maintenance of all graphic image components shall also be the responsibility of the contractor. When requested, the contractor shall produce marketing materials, educational materials, perform analysis and studies, conduct surveys and make recommendations, in order to achieve SB/SE and IRS goals. Typically, this shall be related to taxpayer education, customer satisfaction, and internal and external product effectiveness and product visibility but shall not be limited to this. Skill Requirements The contractor shall be working on and shall be knowledgeable and proficient in the use of the IBM compatible PCs using a variety of operating systems such as: - Windows XP The contractor shall also be knowledgeable and proficient in the following Microsoft packages: - Microsoft Office Suite 2003 or higher - Microsoft Outlook, and - SQL server database - C# - Adobe flash - Adobe actionscripts, and - ASP net, and - HTML The contractor must be experienced in using the IRS.gov Content Management Application (CMA), dreamweaver, IRS LAN, IRS Information Technology Asset Management System (ITAMS) which is the IRS Help Desk System and the 5081 system. The contractor shall have in-depth knowledge and experience in the design, development, and implementation of Intranet and Internet websites. The contractor shall have extensive specialized experience in the use of the IRS CMA or similar CMA and must be experienced in updating an IRS Web site and maintain an IRS account and password. The contractor must have extensive experience in updating the IRS intranet using the MySB/SE content management application. The contractor must have extensive experience in formatting and hosting recorded video on the IRS Video Portal for streaming on the web. Specialized experience shall include the current application of knowledge and expertise in such areas as: software development, web site development and web enabled applications, web streaming, telecommunications, electronic commerce, internet security, marketing, and quality assurance. The contractor shall be familiar with the mission and goals of the SB/SE Division, and the SB/SE Products and web content. The contractor shall also have in-depth knowledge of the SB/SE Web pages on IRS.gov and the MySB/SE web content. Submission of Capability Statements The capability statements are not to exceed 5 pages and may be submitted via email no later than Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Capability statements must address the specific ability to perform the scope of work, and possession of the skill requirements as indicated in this RFI. Capability statements must also include a description of similar work performed in the past 5 years. Please include the name and number of the contract, contract scope, contract type, period of performance, contract deliverables, the issuing Government agency, and the name and telephone number of the Contracting Officer. REMINDER - since this is being considered for set aside under Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, the prime contractor MUST perform at least 51% of the work. Responses All responses and any questions must be submitted in writing to Tanya.M.Conner@irs.gov. The Subject line of the email should read "SB/SE WEB SERVICES Sources Sought". Responses to this notice must be received by 3:30PM EST, on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. Include within the text of the email response the following: business name, point of contact, address, email address, telephone number, and the firms SBA 8(a) Entrance and Exit dates.